Session continuity for ipv6 over bluetooth low energy

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are provided for communications. In one aspect there is provided a method. The method may include sending, by a low power node, an indicator to a target low power router, wherein the indicator at least represents a request to operate with a prior context used at a source low power router; and receiving, by the low power node, a message in response to the indicator, wherein the message at least indicates whether the low power node can operate at the target low power router with a same context that corresponds to the prior context used previously at the source low power router. Related apparatus, systems, methods, and articles are also described.

FIELD

The subject matter described herein relates to wireless communications.

BACKGROUND

The Internet of Things (IoT), machine-based communication networks, andother low power networks are increasingly being deployed. These lowpower networks may be able to support IoT and other devices havinglimited power, limited data rate, and/or limited overall capabilities.

SUMMARY

Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, are providedfor session continuity.

In some example embodiments, there is provided a method that includessending, by a low power node, an indicator to a target low power router,wherein the indicator at least represents a request to operate with aprior context used at a source low power router; and receiving, by thelow power node, a message in response to the indicator, wherein themessage at least indicates whether the low power node can operate at thetarget low power router with a same context that corresponds to theprior context used previously at the source low power router.

In some variations, one or more of the features disclosed hereinincluding the following features can optionally be included in anyfeasible combination. The low power node may establish a connectionusing the same context to the target low power router, when the messageindicates the same context can be used. The low power node may establisha connection using a different context to the target low power router,when the message indicates the same context cannot be used. The samecontext may include a short address, a local network address, anidentifier, a hash value, or a combination thereof. The same context mayinclude at least one of an internet protocol version six address of alink used by the low power node when connected to the source low powerrouter. The same context may include an internet protocol version sixaddress of a link used by the low power node when connected to thesource low power router. The same context may include at least one of aBluetooth channel identifier or a Bluetooth low energy address of a linkused by the low power node when connected to the source low powerrouter. The low power node, the target low power router, and the sourcelow power router may be configured to at least operate in accordancewith an internet protocol version six address and Bluetooth low energy.The low power node may include an internet protocol version six addressLowPAN node. The target low power router and the source low power bordermay each include at least one of an internet protocol version sixaddress border router or an internet protocol version six addressrouter. The target low power router and the source low power router maybe the same node. The target low power router and the source low powerrouter may operate in a Bluetooth mesh network. The sent indicator maybe carried by at least one of an internet protocol version six addressmessage or a Bluetooth message.

The above-noted aspects and features may be implemented in systems,apparatus, methods, and/or articles depending on the desiredconfiguration. The details of one or more variations of the subjectmatter described herein are set forth in the accompanying drawings andthe description below. Features and advantages of the subject matterdescribed herein will be apparent from the description and drawings, andfrom the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In the drawings,

FIG. 1 depict an example of a system including nodes operating over alow power network, in accordance with some exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 2 depicts another example of a system including nodes operatingover a low power network, in accordance with some exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 3 depicts an example format for a mobility context identifierenabling a device's context or state to move as the device moves, inaccordance with some exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 4 depicts an example of a process for session continuity using themobility context identifier in accordance with some exemplaryembodiments; and

FIG. 5 depicts an example of an apparatus, in accordance with someexemplary embodiments.

Like labels are used to refer to same or similar items in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Many devices including Internet of Things (IoT) devices are operatingusing low power radio technologies, such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth LowEnergy (BLE), and/or other radio technologies. In addition, thesedevices may also be configured to transmit and/or receive data usingadditional protocols, such as Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) and/orthe like.

To enable devices to operate over lower power wireless networks, IPv6over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LoWPAN) may be one ofthe technologies being considered for deployment in low power wirelessnetworks including IoT as well as other devices. 6LowPAN includesfeatures such as encapsulation and header compression, packet sizeadaptation between networks, address resolution, and the like (see, forexample, IEEE 802.15.4 and RFC 6282). In the case of IPv6 over BLE forexample, some current standards provide guidance with respect toconnection setup in a stationary setting, but these current standardsmay be ill suited for mobility. To illustrate using the 6Lo WorkingGroup Internet-Draft standard, if a IPv6 low power node such as a IPv6LowPAN node (6LN) moves and losses its Bluetooth connection (which maybe via logical link control and adaptation protocol (L2CAP)) to anothernode such as an IPv6 LoWPAN border router (6LBR), the IPv6 connectionmay also be terminated or lost, in which case application levelconnections may also be terminated. See, e.g., IPv6 over Bluetooth LowEnergy, 6Lo Working Group, Apr. 27, 2015 (herein referred to as the 6LoWorking Group Internet-Draft standard). Accordingly, when the 6LNre-establishes another BLE connection (to the same or another 6LBR), the6LN may connect to the 6LBR and then re-establish the IPv6 connection.The 6LBR may also be part of mesh network, and hence reconnecting toanother 6LBR may cause 6LN to change its point of attachment in the meshnetwork. However, because some, if not all, of the sessions at the IPv6layer or above were, as noted, disconnected or terminated, thesesessions would also need to be re-established.

However, in the case of IoT-type devices (as well as other low powerradio nodes for example), a node, such as a 6LN or the like, may belimited with respect to power, memory, and/or processing capacity, sothese low power nodes may be limited with respect to using certain typesof IP protocols that are inefficient in terms of power, memory, and/orprocessing. Moreover, the header compression and IPv6 addressregistration features provided by 6LoWPAN technologies may also pose achallenge with respect to mobility as both the 6LN and the 6LBRmaintain/contain state information for the 6LN's IPv6 addressregistrations. For example, a 6LN may register its addresses (forexample, address currently being used by the 6LN) with the 6BLR (see,for example, section 3.2.2 ofhttps://tools.ietf.org/id/draft-ietf-6lo-btle-07.txt and section 4.1 ofRFC 6775). But re-establishing an address registration state may alsorequire some form of signaling, which consumes power and/or the likeeven before application level communications take place. Theaforementioned may thus present at least two challenges. First, how toprovide session continuity, such as TCP/IP session continuity and/or thelike, for low power wireless technology in a mobile environment in whichfor example IPv6 enabled BLE nodes are moving. Second, how to minimizethe signaling required for re-establishing states after node movement.

To illustrate the challenges, FIG. 1 depicts an example of a system 100.In the example shown, a first node, such as 6LN 110, may be coupled toanother node, such as 6LBR 100. This coupling may be over a wirelesslink 130, such as over Bluetooth, BLE, and/or other type of low power orshort-range radio access technology. The link 130 may enable the 6LN 110to share (for example, register and/or the like) state information S1160 with 6LBR 100. The state information may include the address(es)being used by 6LN.

FIG. 1 also shows that 6LBR 100 is coupled to a network 150, such acellular network, the Internet, a wireless local area network, and/orany other type of communication medium.

When 6LN 110 moves (as indicated by arrow 140), some currentspecifications as noted above may not retain state information 160. Assuch, when 6LN 110 re-establishes another BLE connection 131 with thesame 6LBR 100 or another 6LBR 101, a new context state S2 170 may needto be established. The re-establishment of this new context state S2 mayrequire signaling, which as noted above consumes power (which isundesirable for low energy devices such as IoT devices). Thisre-establishment may also cause some, if not all, of the IP layer andabove sessions (which were active while 6LN node 110 was coupled to 6LBR100) to be lost and require re-establishment (which is also undesirablefor low energy devices such as IoT devices). As such, the mobility ofthe 6LN node 110 may cause a disconnection at 130 and/or network 150 anda loss of state information including context information, such whetherthe IP address being used by 6LN 110 before the move 140 is stillavailable for use after the move 140 to 6LBR 101.

In some example embodiments, there is provided an indicator. In someexample embodiments, the indicator may comprise a unique (at leastlocally) mobility context identifier (MCID). In some exampleembodiments, the MCID may be used by nodes, such as the 6LBR and 6LN, toshare (for example, request, provide, send, receive, exchange, and/orthe like) state information. This state information may correspond tothe address(es) being used by the node, such as the 6LN. Moreover, thestate information may correspond to the registered address (es) beingused by the 6LN 110 over the wireless link, such as the BLE link. Inthis way, after a disconnection due to for example mobility, the nodesmay determine whether the state or context associated with that MCID isstill available for use by the 6LN during a re-establishment of theconnection to the same or other device/router, such as a 6LBR nodeand/or another type of node.

In some example embodiments, when a wireless link such as BLE connection130 is lost (for example, due to mobility), the nodes, such as 6LN 110and 6LBR 100, may retain the state (for example, address(es) from aprior session and the like) they had before the connection loss.Moreover, the state may be retained via the MCID, and may be retainedfor a certain period of time, in accordance with some exampleembodiments. For example, the MCID may be mapped, or associated with,the state or context of a 6LN (for example, an IPv6 address). Moreover,the source (for example, prior or old) 6LBR may have buffered data forthe 6LN, and this buffered data may be received from the network afterthe 6LN disconnects (but before the 6LN connects) to a target (orsubsequent or new) 6LBR. When this is the case, the MCID may beassociated with the data buffer. As such, when the 6LN reconnects to atarget 6LBR, the source 6LBR may forward data in its data buffer to thetarget 6LBR, which may then forward some of the buffer information (forexample, state/context information) to the 6LN.

When the 6LN re-establishes a connection with the same or different6LBR, the 6LN can, in accordance with some example embodiments, indicateto the 6LN an MCID (such as the MCID being used by the 6LN with asession prior to the disconnection). In some example embodiments, the6LBR may reply to the indicated MCID; and this reply may, in someexample embodiments, indicate that the indicated MCID can still be usedby the 6LN on the re-established connection. Alternatively oradditionally, the reply may, in some example embodiments, provide a newMCID for use by the 6LN.

When the MCID can still be used, the 6LN and 6LBR may determine that theaddress registration state is still valid (or available), so the 6LN and6LBR can continue using the address(es), such as an IPv6 address.However, if the reply provides a new MCID (and/or the 6LN and 6LBR donot agree on MCID), then some, if not all, of the state information maybe considered lost (or for example, no longer valid). Moreover, sessionsdepending on the old state information may be terminated (and/orre-established).

When the 6LN re-establishes an IPv6 connection with a different 6LBR(rather than the first or previously connected 6LBR), the second,different 6LBR may query the first, previous 6LBR about the stateinformation required to indicate successful state transition to the 6LN.This state transfer may occur for example via a centralized server thattracks states/contexts across 6LBRs or via the 6LBR querying other 6LBRsto determine if any other 6LBR can provide the state/context informationindicated by the MCID (for example, by sending a multicast request toother 6LBRs in same local area network segment).

To avoid a denial of service (DoS) attack, the 6LN may, in some exampleembodiments, obey a successful indication of a state/context informationtransfer only if the 6LN determines that the new 6LBR providesconnectivity to the same network that the old 6LBR provided a connectionto (for example, the MCID value may be used only if detecting networkattachment procedures indicate the network is the same so that new 6LBRis advertising the same IPv6 prefixes as was the old one).

In some example embodiments, the MCID value may comprise a separatevalue, such as a dedicated value having a sole purpose of indicatingcontext, although the MCID may have other purposes (for example, in thecase of an IPv6 address, the MCID has other purposes).

In some example embodiments, the MCID may comprise an IPv6 address, suchas the IPv6 addresses defining a local link between the 6LN and the6LBR.

In some example embodiments, the MCID may comprise a BLE address of anode, such as the 6LN, 6LBR, and/or other node types.

In some example embodiments, the MCID may be a combination (or forexample, a hash) of the IPv6 and Bluetooth address of the node, whichmay allow the 6LBRs to use overlapping MCID values (unique devices andcompression contexts are defined through MCID value and IPv6/BLE addresspairs). For example, a set of parameters can be combined to form aunique MCID value by concatenating different values or by performing ahash function over selected set of values to form the MCID.

In some example embodiments, the MCID may comprise the Bluetooth ChannelIdentifier (CID).

In some example embodiments, the MCID may comprise the Bluetooth ChannelIdentifier (CID) in combination with at least one of the IPv6 or theBluetooth device address.

In some example embodiments, the MCID may comprise at least one of ashort address, a local network address, an identifier, or a combinationthereof.

Although reference is made herein the MCID, other types of indicatorsmay be used that enable identifying the address (or context) informationto enable session continuity as the node moves and/or re-establishesconnections, in accordance with the example embodiments describedherein.

Furthermore, although reference is made herein the Bluetooth Low Energy,Bluetooth, IPv6, 6LoWPAN, and the like, other radio technologies andprotocols may be used as well.

FIG. 2 depicts an example system 200, in accordance with some exampleembodiments.

System 200 is similar to system 100 in some respects but system 200 mayinclude MCID processing circuitry 210A-E (labeled “M”) to enablehandling of the MCID, in accordance with the example embodimentsdescribed herein. Moreover, system 200 may include a repository, such asserver 220, that can be queried based on the MCID, for the context/stateinformation, in accordance with some example embodiments.

Although FIG. 2 depicts a certain configuration of nodes, otherconfigurations may be used as well. For example, the nodes 101 may beimplemented as a 6LowPAN Router (6LR, see, for example, RFC-6775).Moreover, the server 220 may also be implanted at the 6LBR.

System 200 may further include a first node, such as 6LN 110, coupled toanother node, such as 6LBR 100. This coupling may be via a low-energyand/or short-range link 130, such as Bluetooth or BLE, although otherradio technologies may be used as well. The 6LN 110 and 6LBR 100 mayinclude state information S1 160. However, in accordance with someexample embodiments, 6LBR 100 may send an MCID 299 to 6LN 110 via BLEconnection 130.

When 6LN 110 moves 140 and the BLE connection 130 is lost, the state 160may be retained by virtue of the MCID 299 and/or the upper applicationlayers may not need to be alerted about the lost connectivity (at leastwhile the MCID is still valid). In this example, both nodes 100 and 110may have, or store, the mapping between the MCID and the IPv6 addresses.

When the 6LN 110 re-establishes a BLE connection 131 with another 6LBRsuch as second 6LBR 101, the 6LN 110 may indicate to 6LBR 101 the MCID299, in accordance with some example embodiments. Although this examplerefers to the 6LN 110 sending the MCID 299 as part of connectionre-establishment with 6LBR 101, the 6LN 110 may also send MCID 299 to6LBR 100 if the connection 130 is being re-established as well.

Receipt of the MCID indication may trigger 6LBR 101 to obtain the stateS1 160 from for example server 220 and/or 6LBR 100. For example, 6LBR101 may query 200 6LBR 100 directly by sending the indicated MCID 299 to6LBR 100. If 6LBR 100 has the state information for MCID 299, 6LBR 100may response to 6LBR 101 with state information 160. If 6LBR 100 doesnot have the state information for MCID 299, 6LBR 100 may query 201server 220, in which case server 220 may respond with the stateinformation S1 to 6LBR 101 (so that it can respond to 6LBR 100) orrespond directly at 202 to 6LBR 100. Alternatively or additionally, 6LBR101 may initially query 202 server 220 to obtain the state informationS1 160. Server 220 may maintain state information for one or more 6LBRsand provide, based on the MCID, state information upon request.

The data exchange 200 can occur directly between 6LBRs, or may beassisted by a remote server 220. For example, 6LBR 100 may update thestate data by sending at 201 an MCID (including the state information)to server 220, for example, at the moment the connection 130 isdisconnected, and the second 6LBR 101 may obtain at 202 the state datafrom server 220.

When 6LBR 101 receives the state information 160 corresponding to theMCID 299, 6LBR 101 may indicate to 6LN 110 that the state information160 for MCID 299 can be used. When this is the case, state S1 160 may beused also between 6LN 110 and 6LBR 101. Moreover, IP level and abovesessions may remain intact (and thus not disturbed), so IP level andabove signaling over 131 may be avoided.

In some example embodiments, the 6LN may send to the 6LBR the MCID 299,which may be carried by for example, an IPv6 Neighbor Solicitation, anIPv6 Router Solicitation, and/or other message types as well.

If an 6LN does not have an MCID (but the 6LN is able to support theMCID), the 6LN may, in accordance with some example embodiments, send toan 6LBR the MCID 299 including a predetermined value, such as zero value(although other predetermined values may be used as well), to signal tothe 6LBR that the 6LN desires an MCID.

In some example embodiments, the 6LBR may respond to the 6LN, and theresponse may be carried by for example an IPv6 Neighbor Advertisement,an IPv6 Router Advertisement message, and/or other message types.

Although the previous example describes the MCID implemented at the IPlayer, the MCID may also be implemented at other layers including aspart of Bluetooth layer signaling. When the Bluetooth layer is used, theMCID may be included in for example the BLE Credit Based ConnectionRequest message. Moreover, the MCID usage at the Bluetooth layer mayoperate in so-called “hidden” manner from the IP layers and above, sothat the IP layers and above are unaffected (save for not having to teardown the IP layer and above sessions).

FIG. 3 depicts an example format for the MCID format, in accordance withsome example embodiments. The MCID may, in accordance with some exampleembodiments, include one or more of the following: a type 305, a length310, a result (R) 315, a lifetime 330, an MCID value 340, and a reserved(Res) field 320.

The type 305 may indicate that the packet at 300 is carrying MCIDrelated data. For example, type 305 may be a predetermined valueindicating the subsequent bytes relate to, or are about, the MCID asdisclosed herein. The length 310 may specify the overall length of theMCID. The result 315 may have predetermined values. For example, aresult value of zero during a solicitation message for the MCID mayindicate a desire to obtain an MCID. During advertisement, a result ofone may advertise that the MCID was successfully maintained by the 6LNafter a disconnect, while a result of zero may advertise that the MCIDwas not successfully retained after the disconnection. The lifetime maybe used to indicate (for example, in seconds or other unit of measure)how long the context information may be retained by the 6LBR or serverafter a disconnection. The MCID value 340 may be a value identifying aparticular type of state information or context at a network link, suchas an IPv6 address, a BLE address, a Bluetooth Channel Identifier (CID),a short address, a local network address, an identifier, or acombination thereof. The reserved 315 may correspond to a field that isundefined or available for future/other uses.

FIG. 4 depicts an example process 400 for enabling mobility in nodesincluding short-range wireless and/or low power nodes examples of whichinclude Bluetooth nodes, BLE nodes, 6LN, 6LR, 6LBR, and/or other typesof nodes as well, in accordance with some example embodiments. Thedescription of FIG. 4 also refers to FIG. 2.

At 402, a node, such as 6LN 110, may be coupled to 6LBR 100 via forexample a short-range and/or low-power link such as for BLE link 120. At404, another node, such as 6LBR 100, may send a message, such as arouter advertisement message, an IPv6 router advertisement, and/or thelike, and this message may include address configuration information. Inresponse at 406, the 6LN may, in accordance with some exampleembodiments, send MCID 299. And, MCID 299 may be carried by a message,such as a solicitation message, an IPv6 Neighbor Solicitation message,and/or other types of messages as well. In the example of FIG. 4, theMCID 299 may include a value of 0x0000, which may be a predeterminedvalue that signals the 6LBR 100 that the 6LN desires/requests an MCIDvalue. At 408, 6LBR 100 may respond with an MCID value, such as 0xAB45.The MCID value may be carried by for example a message, such as an IPv6Neighbor Advertisement message, although other types of messages may beused as well. The MCID value of 0xAB45 may map to a context or state 160associated with the 6LN 110. This state or context may at least identifyaddresses assigned to the 6LN 110.

At 410, the 6LN 110 may disconnect from the 6LBR 100, in accordance withsome example embodiments. When this is the case, the MCID and/or themapped state information may at 412 be stored at each of the nodes 100,110, as well as server 220, in accordance with some example embodiments.

At 414, 6LN 110 may move to another node, router, and/or the like, inaccordance with some example embodiments. In the example of FIG. 4, the6LN moves to 6LBR 101. When this is the case, 6LBR 101 may send amessage, such as an advertisement message, an IPv6 router advertisementmessage, or other type of message, and this message may include addressconfiguration information. This address configuration information may bethe same or similar address configuration as what was sent at 404 by6LBR 100.

At 418, the 6LN 110 may, in accordance with some example embodiments,send MCID 299 (which may be in response to message 416). This MCID 299may be carried by a message, such as a solicitation message, an IPv6Neighbor Solicitation message, or other type of message. The MCID maycorrespond to the MCID provided at 408, which in this example equals0xAB45. If however, the MCID provided at 408 is no longer valid, anotherMCID may be provided.

When 6LBR 101 receives the message 418 that includes the MCID, the 6LBR101 may, in accordance with some example embodiments, determine thecorresponding state information. To determine the corresponding state,the 6LBR 101 may (if it already does not have the information) queryother nodes, such as 6LBR 101 and 450 and/or sever 220. At 422, 6LBR 100may respond with a message that includes MCID 299 and/or the stateinformation, such the IPv6 address which was used by the 6LN beforebeing disconnected 410.

At 424, the 6LBR 101 may respond with a message including the MCIDand/or the state information 160, in accordance with some exampleembodiments. The 6LN 110 may then store the received information andthen operate using the received state, such as the IPv6 address whichwas used by the 6LN before being disconnected 410. In this way, the MCIDenables the 6LN to retain the sessions it had prior to thedisconnection.

As noted above, the state/context information may be identified by theMCID value mapped to IPv6 link-local address(es). When this is the case,the 6LBR 100 may store the state such as the link-local addresses mappedto the MCID value, and the 6LBRs may also store the state such as thelink-local addresses of the 6LN nodes, when exchanging state/contactinformation.

In some example embodiments, the MCID may be generated and used in ahidden mode, as noted above, from the IP layer. When that is the case,entities may follow a similar process as in FIG. 4 but the 6LBRs mayneed to hide the MCID from the IP layer that a 6LN node has changed6LBR. This may be implemented by, for example, modifying Bluetooth LElayer protocols for message exchanges between 6LN and 6LBR, and using,for example, the same protocol for communications between 6LBRs. TheMCID values may be exchanged during L2CAP Connection Oriented

Channel setup alongside a maximum transmission unit (MTU) negotiation,and information passed to IP layer alongside MTU value.

In some example embodiments, the state information exchanges betweennodes may include additional information (for example, other state thanthe address registration state). This additional information may includefirewall parameters, application level proxy parameters, BLEtransmission credits, network authentication data, routing data, and/orthe like.

In some example embodiments, the nodes may be configured to operateusing IPv6 and low power, short-range IP-based network technologiesoperative with for example the Internet of Things (IoT). These low powernetworks may include for example Bluetooth low energy, IEEE 802.15.4,and/or other low power networks.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus 10, in accordancewith some example embodiments. The apparatus 10 (or portions thereof)may be implemented at nodes 110, 100, 101, and/or the like.

In the case of IoT and/or other low power nodes, the apparatus may, insome example embodiments, include limited processing at 20, limitedmemory at 40, 42, and 37, and power capabilities (when compared to forexample a smartphone). Moreover, one or more of the user interfacerelated components (described further below), such as keypad 30, display28, ringer 22, speaker 24, and/or microphone 26 may not be implementedat apparatus 10. Likewise, the radio aspects may be configured for lowpower operation using for example BLE, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.15.4, and/orthe like. Moreover, the apparatus may only include this low power radio,rather than higher power cellular radios.

The apparatus 10 may include at least one antenna 12 in communicationwith a transmitter 14 and a receiver 16. Alternatively transmit andreceive antennas may be separate. The apparatus 10 may also include aprocessor 20 configured to provide signals to and receive signals fromthe transmitter and receiver, respectively, and to control thefunctioning of the apparatus. Processor 20 may be configured to controlthe functioning of the transmitter and receiver by effecting controlsignaling via electrical leads to the transmitter and receiver.Likewise, processor 20 may be configured to control other elements ofapparatus 10 by effecting control signaling via electrical leadsconnecting processor 20 to the other elements, such as a display or amemory. The processor 20 may, for example, be embodied in a variety ofways including circuitry, at least one processing core, one or moremicroprocessors with accompanying digital signal processor(s), one ormore processor(s) without an accompanying digital signal processor, oneor more coprocessors, one or more multi-core processors, one or morecontrollers, processing circuitry, one or more computers, various otherprocessing elements including integrated circuits (for example, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA), and/or the like), or some combination thereof.Accordingly, although illustrated in FIG. 5 as a single processor, insome example embodiments the processor 20 may comprise a plurality ofprocessors or processing cores.

Signals sent and received by the processor 20 may include signalinginformation in accordance with an air interface standard of anapplicable cellular system, and/or any number of different wireline orwireless networking techniques, comprising but not limited to Wi-Fi,wireless local access network (WLAN) techniques, such as Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, 802.16, and/or thelike. In addition, these signals may include speech data, user generateddata, user requested data, and/or the like.

The apparatus 10 may be capable of operating with one or more airinterface standards, communication protocols, modulation types, accesstypes, and/or the like. For example, the apparatus 10 and/or a cellularmodem therein may be capable of operating in accordance with variousfirst generation (1G) communication protocols, second generation (2G or2.5G) communication protocols, third-generation (3G) communicationprotocols, fourth-generation (4G) communication protocols, InternetProtocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) communication protocols (forexample, session initiation protocol (SIP) and/or the like. For example,the apparatus 10 may be capable of operating in accordance with 2Gwireless communication protocols IS-136, Time Division Multiple AccessTDMA, Global System for Mobile communications, GSM, IS-95, Code DivisionMultiple Access, CDMA, and/or the like. In addition, for example, theapparatus 10 may be capable of operating in accordance with 2.5Gwireless communication protocols General Packet Radio Service (GPRS),Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), and/or the like. Further, forexample, the apparatus 10 may be capable of operating in accordance with3G wireless communication protocols, such as Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS), Code Division Multiple Access 2000(CDMA2000), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), TimeDivision-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), and/orthe like. The apparatus 10 may be additionally capable of operating inaccordance with 3.9G wireless communication protocols, such as Long TermEvolution (LTE), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network(E-UTRAN), and/or the like. Additionally, for example, the apparatus 10may be capable of operating in accordance with 4G wireless communicationprotocols, such as LTE Advanced and/or the like as well as similarwireless communication protocols that may be subsequently developed.

It is understood that the processor 20 may include circuitry forimplementing audio/video and logic functions of apparatus 10. Forexample, the processor 20 may comprise a digital signal processordevice, a microprocessor device, an analog-to-digital converter, adigital-to-analog converter, and/or the like. Control and signalprocessing functions of the apparatus 10 may be allocated between thesedevices according to their respective capabilities. The processor 20 mayadditionally comprise an internal voice coder (VC) 20 a, an internaldata modem (DM) 20 b, and/or the like. Further, the processor 20 mayinclude functionality to operate one or more software programs, whichmay be stored in memory. In general, processor 20 and stored softwareinstructions may be configured to cause apparatus 10 to perform actions.For example, processor 20 may be capable of operating a connectivityprogram, such as a web browser. The connectivity program may allow theapparatus 10 to transmit and receive web content, such as location-basedcontent, according to a protocol, such as wireless application protocol,WAP, hypertext transfer protocol, HTTP, Constrained Application Protocol(CoAP), and/or the like.

Apparatus 10 may also comprise a user interface including, for example,an earphone or speaker 24, a ringer 22, a microphone 26, a display 28, auser input interface, and/or the like, which may be operationallycoupled to the processor 20. The display 28 may, as noted above, includea touch sensitive display, where a user may touch and/or gesture to makeselections, enter values, and/or the like. The processor 20 may alsoinclude user interface circuitry configured to control at least somefunctions of one or more elements of the user interface, such as thespeaker 24, the ringer 22, the microphone 26, the display 28, and/or thelike. The processor 20 and/or user interface circuitry comprising theprocessor 20 may be configured to control one or more functions of oneor more elements of the user interface through computer programinstructions, for example, software and/or firmware, stored on a memoryaccessible to the processor 20, for example, volatile memory 40,non-volatile memory 42, and/or the like. The apparatus 10 may include abattery for powering various circuits related to the mobile terminal,for example, a circuit to provide mechanical vibration as a detectableoutput. The user input interface may comprise devices allowing theapparatus 20 to receive data, such as a keypad 30 (which can be avirtual keyboard presented on display 28 or an externally coupledkeyboard) and/or other input devices.

As shown in FIG. 5, apparatus 10 may also include one or more mechanismsfor sharing and/or obtaining data. For example, the apparatus 10 mayinclude a short-range radio frequency (RF) transceiver and/orinterrogator 64, so data may be shared with and/or obtained fromelectronic devices in accordance with RF techniques. The apparatus 10may include other short-range transceivers, such as an infrared (IR)transceiver 66, a Bluetooth™ (BT) transceiver 68 operating usingBluetooth™ wireless technology, a wireless universal serial bus (USB)transceiver 70, a Bluetooth™ Low Energy transceiver, a ZigBeetransceiver, an ANT transceiver, a cellular device-to-devicetransceiver, a wireless local area link transceiver, and/or any othershort-range radio technology. Apparatus 10 and, in particular, theshort-range transceiver may be capable of transmitting data to and/orreceiving data from electronic devices within the proximity of theapparatus, such as within 10 meters, for example. The apparatus 10including the Wi-Fi or wireless local area networking modem may also becapable of transmitting and/or receiving data from electronic devicesaccording to various wireless networking techniques, including 6LoWPAN,Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi low power, WLAN techniques such as IEEE 802.11 techniques,IEEE 802.15 techniques, IEEE 802.16 techniques, and/or the like.

The apparatus 10 may comprise memory, such as a subscriber identitymodule (SIM) 38, a removable user identity module (R-UIM), a eUICC, anUICC, and/or the like, which may store information elements related to amobile subscriber. In addition to the SIM, the apparatus 10 may includeother removable and/or fixed memory. The apparatus 10 may includevolatile memory 40 and/or non-volatile memory 42. For example, volatilememory 40 may include Random Access Memory (RAM) including dynamicand/or static RAM, on-chip or off-chip cache memory, and/or the like.Non-volatile memory 42, which may be embedded and/or removable, mayinclude, for example, read-only memory, flash memory, magnetic storagedevices, for example, hard disks, floppy disk drives, magnetic tape,optical disc drives and/or media, non-volatile random access memory(NVRAM), and/or the like. Like volatile memory 40, non-volatile memory42 may include a cache area for temporary storage of data. At least partof the volatile and/or non-volatile memory may be embedded in processor20. The memories may store one or more software programs, instructions,pieces of information, data, and/or the like which may be used by theapparatus for performing operations, such as process 400 and/or anyother operations/functions disclosed herein (for example, sending, by alow power node, an indicator to a target low power border router,wherein the indicator at least represents a request to operate with aprior context used at a source low power border router; and receiving,by the low power node, a message in response to the indicator, whereinthe message at least indicate whether the low power node can continue tooperate at the target low power border router with a same context usedat the source low power border router). The memories may comprise anidentifier, such as an international mobile equipment identification(IMEI) code, capable of uniquely identifying apparatus 10. The memoriesmay comprise an identifier, such as an international mobile equipmentidentification (IMEI) code, capable of uniquely identifying apparatus10. In the example embodiment, the processor 20 may be configured usingcomputer code stored at memory 40 and/or 42 to control and/or provideone or more aspects disclosed herein with respect to process 400 as wellas other session continuity operations disclosed herein.

Some of the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in software,hardware, application logic, or a combination of software, hardware, andapplication logic. The software, application logic, and/or hardware mayreside on memory 40, the control apparatus 20, or electronic components,for example. In some example embodiment, the application logic, softwareor an instruction set is maintained on any one of various conventionalcomputer-readable media. In the context of this document, a“computer-readable medium” may be any non-transitory media that cancontain, store, communicate, propagate or transport the instructions foruse by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus,or device, such as a computer or data processor circuitry, with examplesdepicted at FIG. 5, computer-readable medium may comprise anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium that may be any mediathat can contain or store the instructions for use by or in connectionwith an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as acomputer.

Without in any way limiting the scope, interpretation, or application ofthe claims appearing below, a technical effect of one or more of theexample embodiments disclosed herein is maintaining connection setup andsession information in low power network devices.

The subject matter described herein may be embodied in systems,apparatus, methods, and/or articles depending on the desiredconfiguration. For example, the base stations and user equipment (or oneor more components therein) and/or the processes described herein can beimplemented using one or more of the following: a processor executingprogram code, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), adigital signal processor (DSP), an embedded processor, a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), and/or combinations thereof. Thesevarious implementations may include implementation in one or morecomputer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on aprogrammable system including at least one programmable processor, whichmay be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data andinstructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storagesystem, at least one input device, and at least one output device. Thesecomputer programs (also known as programs, software, softwareapplications, applications, components, program code, or code) includemachine instructions for a programmable processor, and may beimplemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-orientedprogramming language, and/or in assembly/machine language. As usedherein, the term “computer-readable medium” refers to any computerprogram product, machine-readable medium, computer-readable storagemedium, apparatus and/or device (for example, magnetic discs, opticaldisks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to providemachine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, includinga machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions. Similarly,systems are also described herein that may include a processor and amemory coupled to the processor. The memory may include one or moreprograms that cause the processor to perform one or more of theoperations described herein.

Although a few variations have been described in detail above, othermodifications or additions are possible. In particular, further featuresand/or variations may be provided in addition to those set forth herein.Moreover, the implementations described above may be directed to variouscombinations and subcombinations of the disclosed features and/orcombinations and subcombinations of several further features disclosedabove. Other embodiments may be within the scope of the followingclaims.

If desired, the different functions discussed herein may be performed ina different order and/or concurrently with each other. Furthermore, ifdesired, one or more of the above-described functions may be optional ormay be combined. Although various aspects of some of the embodiments areset out in the independent claims, other aspects of some of theembodiments comprise other combinations of features from the describedembodiments and/or the dependent claims with the features of theindependent claims, and not solely the combinations explicitly set outin the claims. It is also noted herein that while the above describesexample embodiments, these descriptions should not be viewed in alimiting sense. Rather, there are several variations and modificationsthat may be made without departing from the scope of some of theembodiments as defined in the appended claims. Other embodiments may bewithin the scope of the following claims. The term “based on” includes“based on at least.” The use of the phase “such as” means “such as forexample” unless otherwise indicated.

1-29. (canceled)
 30. A method comprising: sending, by a low power node,an indicator to a target low power router, wherein the indicator atleast represents a request to operate with a prior context used at asource low power router; and receiving, by the low power node, a messagein response to the indicator, wherein the message at least indicateswhether the low power node can operate at the target low power routerwith a same context that corresponds to the prior context usedpreviously at the source low power router.
 31. The method of claim 30further comprising: establishing, by the low power node, a connectionusing the same context to the target low power router, when the messageindicates the same context can be used.
 32. The method of claim 30further comprising: establishing, by the low power node, a connectionusing a different context to the target low power router, when themessage indicates the same context cannot be used.
 33. The method ofclaim 30, wherein the same context comprises a short address, a localnetwork address, an identifier, a hash value, or a combination thereof.34. The method of claim 30, wherein the same context comprises at leastone of an internet protocol version six address of a link used by thelow power node when connected to the source low power router.
 35. Themethod of claim 30, wherein the same context comprises at least one of aBluetooth channel identifier or a Bluetooth low energy address of a linkused by the low power node when connected to the source low powerrouter.
 36. The method of claim 30, wherein the low power node, thetarget low power router, and the source low power router are configuredto at least operate in accordance with an internet protocol version sixaddress and Bluetooth low energy.
 37. The method of claim 30, whereinthe low power node comprises an internet protocol version six addressLowPAN node.
 38. The method of claim 30, wherein the target low powerrouter and the source low power border each comprise at least one of aninternet protocol version six address border router or an internetprotocol version six address router.
 39. The method of claim 30, whereinthe target low power router and the source low power router are the samenode.
 40. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at leastone memory including computer program code, the at least one memory andthe computer program code configured to, with the at least oneprocessor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: send,by the apparatus, an indicator to a target low power router, wherein theindicator at least represents a request to operate with a prior contextused at a source low power router; and receive, by the apparatus, amessage in response to the indicator, wherein the message at leastindicates whether the apparatus can operate at the target low powerrouter with a same context that corresponds to the prior context usedpreviously at the source low power router.
 41. The apparatus of claim40, wherein the apparatus is further configured to at least establish aconnection using the same context to the target low power router, whenthe message indicates the same context can be used.
 42. The apparatus ofclaim 40, wherein the apparatus is further configured to at leastestablish a connection using a different context to the target low powerrouter, when the message indicates the same context cannot be used. 43.The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the same context comprises a shortaddress, a local network address, an identifier, a hash value, or acombination thereof.
 44. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the samecontext comprises at least one of an internet protocol version sixaddress of a link used by the apparatus when connected to the source lowpower router.
 45. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the same contextcomprises at least one of a Bluetooth channel identifier or a Bluetoothlow energy address of a link used by the apparatus when connected to thesource low power router.
 46. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein theapparatus, the target low power router, and the source low power routerare configured to at least operate in accordance with an internetprotocol version six address and Bluetooth low energy
 47. The apparatusof claim 40, wherein the apparatus comprises at least one of a low powernode or an internet protocol version six address LowPAN node.
 48. Theapparatus of claim 40, wherein the target low power router and thesource low power border each comprise at least one of an internetprotocol version six address border router or an internet protocolversion six address router.
 49. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein thetarget low power router and the source low power router are the samenode.